30 Great Places to Work 2018

Oxley Enterprises® Inc.: Integrated Solutions…Enduring Results®

CIO Bulletin

December 2018

It is said that great workplaces inspire employees to put in that extra bit to get the job done. It raises the level of innovation and camaraderie among colleagues. Great workplaces raise the overall productivity at work. And it’s not just about the snacks you are availed at work, it’s about how the people interact, socialize and about how respectful the leadership is, among so many other things. These are the few things that form the foundation of Oxley Enterprises® Inc. (Oxley).

Dr. Nicole Oxley, who was transitioning out of the United States Air Force, founded Oxley Enterprises® in 1999. Early on, Oxley worked as a consulting group where it provided strategic planning, survey assessments, and training services to United States Army’s organizations. With time, these services turned into program, process, quality and performance management and the implementation of Information Infrastructure Library (ITIL).The company still offers these services but it has morphed into a company that applies itself through information technology. Oxley Enterprises® now provides application and database development, software quality assurance and independent verification and validation, infrastructure, and desktop/helpdesk support services.

Surviving requires special qualities in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Oxley Enterprises® has managed this by being highly sensitive to its customer needs since the company’s inception. They have always strived to cater to customer requirements by matching their best people on projects based on the employee skill set and both customer and employee needs. The company couples the right kind of team behind its projects and programs so that the best is extracted out of the employees on a program. This has helped Oxley to not only maintain a high level of customer satisfaction but also a high rate of employee retention.

Employees’ first approach

Oxley Enterprises® prides itself on being an employee-oriented company. For them, employees matter first and foremost. Although there are many opportunities knocking on their door, the company is known to pass up projects if it may affect the pay and benefits of the employees. Generally, in the corporate sector, the interests of a company come above employee interests but Oxley Enterprises chooses to prioritize its employees above all. This company strives to stand for what is right and makes its company decisions keeping in mind the impact it may have on their employees.

You will seldom find companies in the industry where a CEO genuinely makes an effort to keep in touch with the employees of the company. Dr. Oxley personally makes an effort to talk to each employee of the company where the workforce is geographically disperse.

Work-life balance and benefits

Oxley Enterprises® offers a competitive benefits package and encourages a work-life balance for its employees.

The people at Oxley Enterprises® get frequent feedback on their performance. The employees are constantly aware of what they are doing well and the areas in which they can improve. Based on what is important to an employee in the life outside work, benefits are decided upon. Necessary offerings are made to meet the employee needs. Not only this, Oxley provides online training to help its employees to reach the position in which they aspire. They also provide performance awards, bonus awards, and profits are shared among all employees when the company has had a prosperous year.

Oxley Enterprises® strongly encourages their employees to prioritize both work and family. They do so by enabling flexible scheduling so that the employees can choose what to prioritize and when. They further provide paid time off, bereavement leave and work with the employees to ensure that they take religious holidays off. Additionally, they also are steadfast in their belief that their employees must carry out their duties as a U.S. citizen. Employees are given time off for jury duty, court witness appearance and voting commitments.

Oxley Enterprises® Inc. is a certified Virginia Values Veterans (V3) company. Oxley actively recruits veterans and supports employees who are also serving in the Armed Forces Reserves and State National Guards.

Their great workplace culture that places employee interests over everything else makes Oxley Enterprises® Inc one of the best places to work at in 2018. This is one of those companies that thoroughly believes in taking care of its employees and we respect it for that.

The Oxley Leader

Dr. Nicole Oxley has over 25 years of experience in management theory and application. She is widely known for her leadership training, executive coaching, and assisting senior leaders in developing the systems that help the organizations operate effectively.

Her research can be found in many academic and military journals. Also, her research was presented at numerous national psychology conferences. She has presented at the Project Management Institute’s North American Global Congress on “Achieving Excellence in Capital Asset Planning” and at the North American Latin American Global Congress on “Creative Project Team Thinking.”

Dr. Oxley is on the panel for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Virginia State Productivity and Quality Award Programs. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Rappahannock Council against Sexual Assault. She has been an adjunct professor at the Park University, the University of Richmond and the University of Mary Washington. She served as a Communications Officer in the United States Air Force.

"We strive to give our employees the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they are taking care of themselves and their families, resulting in a work environment where personal and professional growth can flourish."

“Through teamwork and shared values, we aid in our customer’s successes and add to our own successes.”